What Is HARNESS?
HARNESS is a GP Consortium based in Brent providing high quality primary care services improving the health and well being of the local population. HARNESS operates as a Social Enterprise which is a relatively novel but growing way of working in the NHS. Any profits generated from its trading activities are available for reinvestment back into the organisation, or for health benefit of the local community.
HARNESS operates on a mutual co-operative basis, and we aim to work collaboratively with all our staff and shareholders in order to drive forward our vision for improving services in the local area.
HARNESS’s Vision for Patient Care
Our vision is:
“To achieve maximum patient benefit through local cooperation between health professionals and patients, maximising available resource through innovation in service delivery and supporting health and well being of our patients at all times.”
HARNESS believes that strong clinical and managerial leadership, effective teamwork and a focus on patient-centred care are central to ensuring the delivery of high quality services and continuity of care for patients.
Harness Consortium
10 Kingfisher Way
London
NW10 8TF
Telephone: 0208 459 9597
Fax: 0208 459 9583
Contact: Lindsey Welsh
email: lindsey.welsh@nhs.net
Population: 80,000
Harness GP Cooperative was established in 2006 by like-minded practices coming together with the aim or improving patient care within the available NHS resource.The vision of Harness is through mutually cooperation and collaboration to support practices in ensuring high quality primary care delivery across the patch in partnership with the local community. Harness members sign up to a code of conduct which is being further developed to support the post White Paper clinical commissioning reforms. Our board incorporates a board member from every practice chaired by the clinical directors. The monthly commissioning forum is supported by the professional and patient forums bring together nursing, young GPs, practice managers and patient representatives.
As a social enterprise Harness support community initiatives with third sector colleagues to improve the health and well being. We invest in access to quality training for staff and have targeted incentives towards ensuring equality of patient access to services such as ECG and spirometry. As a non-geographically based consortium Harness actively support the work of our three networks in tackling local health and well being issues within a larger organisation structure. Our strength is our vision that collectively we are strong than our parts.
List of surgeries:
| Southern Network | Eastern Network | Northern Network |
| | | |
| Church End Medical Centre | Brentfield Medical Centre | Church Lane Surgery |
| Acton Lane Surgery | Oxgate Gardens Surgery | Harrow Road Surgery |
| Freuchen Medical practice | Stonebridge Surgery | Chaplin Road Surgery |
| Buckingham Road Surgery | Aksyr Medical practice | Harness Wembley practice |
| Park Road Surgery | Hilltop Surgery | Wembley Park Drive |
Harness Patient Participation Group
Our practice and our PPG is one of the sixteen local medical practices which is a part of the Harness Commissioning Group, of which Harness is one of the five Commissioning Groups in Brent.
Harness aims and objectives include:-
- A consortium based Patient Liaison group in order to engage with its patients to work together on shaping future services in General practice.
- Communication links with patients about services being delivered and issues relating to the delivery and use of them; this may or may not be directed by local or national policies.
- The Harness Patient Liaison group of practices meet regularly four times a year and during that time develop ways to meet and listen to the views of the patients in all seven practices.